Bluffton High wrestling coach to go to court this month on assault, battery charges

Bluffton High School wrestling coach and social studies teacher John Hollman will appear in Bluffton Municipal Court on assault and battery charges this month, according to his attorney.

Hollman, 45, was arrested May 24 after allegedly slapping a 17-year-old female student on the buttocks during class three days earlier, according to the Bluffton Police Department. He was later released on a $1,092.50 bond, according to the Beaufort County Detention Center. Hollman's court date is June 17.

Hollman was placed and remained on paid administrative leave for 11 days, while the Beaufort County School District conducted an internal investigation of the incident, before being taken off Friday, district spokesman Jim Foster said.

Foster said Saturday the investigation concluded Friday — the last day of the school year for teachers — and Hollman remains employed by the school district and has a contract to teach next school year.

Foster would not say if Hollman will face any disciplinary actions from the district.

“That's a personnel matter and not something we disclose publicly,” Foster said. “Any other judicial proceedings are separate from employment matters.”

While Hollman remains on contract to teach next year, the decision of whether to allow him to continue coaching would be left up to school administration, Foster said.

According to the police report, the student said that while a movie was being played during a fashion class May 21, Hollman entered the room and asked the teacher, Melissa Ricks, to sew a button on his pants. After Ricks had done so, near where the student was lying on her stomach on a table, Hollman smacked the student, causing stinging and redness, according to the report.

After another student asked Hollman why he hit the student, he replied, “It’s OK. I know her like that,” the report said.

The student immediately reported the incident to Ricks, who then reported it to another teacher the following day, the report said. The student said when she told Ricks she felt violated, Ricks said, “Yeah, I don’t know why he did that,” and went back to watching the movie, the report said.

On May 22, Hollman informed school resource officer Bill Ferrelli of the incident. According to the report, Hollman told Ferrelli he had inappropriately touched the student and said the student’s mother and brother came to his house that night to confront him about the incident. Hollman said he apologized to both and said he never intended to harm or act inappropriately toward the student, the report said.

Hollman said Ricks had asked the student to get off the table, and he spanked her to reinforce the command.

Ferrelli reported the incident to Bluffton Police Lt. Scott Chandler and was told to investigate.

Ricks told police when Hollman smacked the student, the student yelled out, and Hollman told the rest of the class, “I know her like that.” Ricks also said she had not asked the student to get off the table and reported that Hollman called her May 23 asking for support. Ricks said she ended the phone call quickly and reported it to Kelly Homan, the school’s head guidance counselor.

Police interviewed six students who were present at the time of the alleged incident, according to the report. Two students said they heard the slap and the student’s scream, but didn’t see the contact. Three more said they did not hear or see anything, but said after Hollman left the room, the student complained of pain and said she felt violated. The other student said they were asleep and didn’t hear or see any of the alleged incident, the report said.

Prior incident

The student also told police Hollman had come with a friend into a restaurant where she works two weeks earlier, put his arm around her and started tickling her, according to the report. The student said when she tried to pull away, Hollman tightened his grip and continued to tickle her. The student said when Hollman’s friend asked him if she was one of his students, he said, “Oh, no, I’m her daddy.”

Hollman’s attorney, Tabor Vaux, did not comment last week on the prior incident, but said the alleged incident Hollman was arrested for appears that it should have been handled through the school system and not the courts.